Means for facilitating operation of railway cars in classification yards



June 24; 1930.

c. w. PRESCOTT MEANS FOR FACILITATING OPERATION OF RAII-WAY CARS IN CLASSIFICATION YARDS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 28, 1927 &

June 24, 1930. c. w. PRESCOTT 1,766,538

MEANS FOR FACILITATING OPERATION OF RAILWAY CARS IN CLASSIFICATION YARDS Filed Sept. 28, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2- L: d I Y- a H F m w d I fillllilff? g L'- xl: 0

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- fizgw TTORNEY Patented June 24, 1930 UNETED STATES PATENT OFFIQE.

CHARLES W. PRESCOTT, OF MILL l-IILL, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR- T GENERAL RAILW'AY SIGNAL COMPANY, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK MEANS FOR FACILITATING OPERATION OF RAILWAY CAR-S IN CLASSIFICATION YARDS Application filed September 28, 1927.

This'invention relates in general to means for facilitating operation of railway cars in classification yards, and has more particular reference to means for equalizing operating conditions throughout such climatic temperature ranges as are to be met with in practice.

In connection'with the general problem of handling freight cars in hump yards it is recognized that variations between the maximum and minimum car friction, due largely to temperature differences, is a most important factor and considerable economies would be effected, if the difference between such maximum and minimum car friction could be made as small as possible. In cold weather cars offer much more resistance to movement than in warm weather, other things being equal, and various means have been used to 29 compensate for this difference. The older hump yards very often employed two humps of different heights, one for use in summer and the other for use in winter, and more recently there have been put into use socalled mechanical humps which are merely arrangements of the rails so that a given length can be jacked up to give a greater inclination for use under low temperature conditions.

In some yards where there is only a low level humpit is necessary and is usual prac-' ties, to move a train backwards and forwards in the receiving yard before putting it over the hump, this movement having the effect of warming up the bearings and diminishing the rolling resistance to a considerable extent.

In other cases, under low temperature con ditions, it is customary to heat the journal boxes, or to add hot oil thereto, in order to cut down the increased resistance due to the low temperature.

lVith the above and other considerations in view, it is proposed, in accordance with this invention, to provide a device of a mechanical character, which can be readily installed and placed on a track leading to a hump or other type of classification yard, A which will give the effect of a run of considerable-length without involving the loss Serial N0. 222,618.

oftime, or the use of power, required with the present methods.

More specifically, it is proposed to provlde a mechanically driven section of flexible trackway whereby to rotate the wheels of a car which is moving along such trackway at a considerably higher speed than the speed which corresponds to the motion of of the car. This is accomplished by having the mechanically driven trackway move against the direction of travel of the car.

Further objects, purposes, and characteristic features of the present invention willappear as the description progresses, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, showing, solely by way of example one form which the invention may assume. In the drawings Fig. 1 is a sectional side elevation of the device in question;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig. I viewed in the direction of the arrows with parts omitted for the sake of clearness;

Fig. 3 is a wholly diagrammatic plan view of the device, shown to a smaller scale;

Fig. 4, is a sectional view, on the line H of Fig. 1, viewed in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 5 is a plan view, to an enlarged scale, of retarder means such as shown in Fig. 3; and r Fig. 6 is a sectional View, on the line 66 of Fig. 5, viewed in the direction of the arrows.

, Referring first to Fig. 1 of the drawings, there is shown a trackway constituted by rails 1, the trackway having a gap defined by spaced ends below which gap is a suitable pit 2 for receiving the conditioning mechanism proper.

The conditioning mechanism, as best shown in Figs. 1 and 2, comprises two belts 3, each of which is formed of a plurality of articulated links 4 having aligned portions 5 of a cross section corresponding to the track rails and positioned in line with such track rails. The links 4: are inter-connected to make endless belts, each link being carried by a shaft 6 having a spool 7 on each endthereofithe spools being supported to run on rails 8 carried by cross rails 9 suitably supported at their ends in the sides of the pit 2, and on rails 8 supported on the bottom of the pit. Each endless belt passes around four discs 10, two at each end of the belt, having toothed portions 11 for engaging with the spools 7 to drive the spools and with them the links L in a counter-clockwise direction for example as viewed in Fig. 1. A motor 12, or any other desired prime mover operates through gears 12 to drive a main drive shaft 13 to which are keyed two discs 10 for each belt, or four discs in all.

As is best seen in Figs. 2 and 3, the portions 5 of the links are lined up with the track rails 1, the rails having their ends bent slightly outwardly so as to permit the wheels 14 of the vehicle 15 to pass from the track rails on to the endless belts, without undue shock.

At the exit end of the endless belts positioned a retarding means constituted by sets of rotatable rollers frictionally retarded against rotation and positioned in line with the track rails 1 and the said belts, whereby to retard the vehicle and reduce the speed of rotation of the wheels 11 to any desired extent. As seen best in Figs. 5 and (3, each retarder comprises a casing 16 carrying a plurality of spaced shafts 17 each of which carries-a roller. Each roller 18 is supplied with a groove 19 to receive the flange of a car wheel, the tread of the wheel bearing on spaced faced portions 20 of such rollers. Between the spaced rollers 18 are other rollers 21 positioned to dove-tail or interlap with the rollers 18 so as to form a continuous bearing surface for supporting the tread of the car wheel. A friction plate 22 extends the length of the retarding means and is slidable on the shafts 17, a spring 23 and adjusting nut 2i being carried by each shaft for adjustably pressing the friction plates 22 against the ends of the rollers 18 and 21. In this manner the frictional resistance to rotation of the rollers 18 and 21 can be. adjusted to thereby absorb more or less of the energy of a vehicle passing thereover, as desired.

As seen in Fig. a gauntlet track is arranged to by-pass the continuous belts and the retarders so as to permit a vehicle to pass by the device without being subjected to its action it it be so desired.

In operation. the device describe-cl above functions as follows: A car is propelled towards the hump, for example, in a (in '5: tication yard, along rails in a direction from left to right, as viewed in Fig. 3, to pass over the two endless be ts which are driven in a counterclockwise direction. that is, in the opposite direction to that of the motion of the vehicle in question to cause the vehicle wheels to rotate at a speed equal to the car wheels will be rotating at a higher speed than that which corresponds to the motion of the car through space and the retarding devices are employed to reduce this speed of rotation until it corresponds with the speed of travel of the vehicle so that the wheels will not slip on the track rails 1 beyond the retarding devices. During the passage over the driven track section, the wheels have been rapidly rotated, and thus the bearings and journal boxes have been warmed up so as to condition the car to be operated over a hump, for example, as readily as is desired. If the car has already been warmed up before reaching the conditioning device, or if the operation in (11,191+ tion takes place under high temperature conditions, no conditioning may be neces sary, in which case the car is shunted around the device by means of the gauntlet track 25.

In order to make the description more concrete a specific example may not be amiss. Let it be assumed that the endless belts constituted by the links 4, are each 100 ft. long, and are driven in a counterclockwise direction at a speed of 15 ft. per see, the car moving along the belts in a direction from left to right as viewed in Fig. 1 at a rate of 3 ft. per sec. Under these conditions, the speed of the car relative to the belts, is 18 ft. per sec., and accordingly the wheels will revolve at a speed corresponding to a car speed on a stationary track of approximately 12 miles per hr., and will be traversing the belts for approximately 33 secs. This is equivalent to a run of 600 ft. at a speed of 12 miles per hr.

It is of course, quite obvious, that by proportioning the belt speed, the belt length, and the car speed, any desired conditioning within working limits, is quite possible and accordingly, any bearings met with in practice can, by the use of the device described, be put into condition for free running, to any extent desired.

In the example given above, when it is realized that the ear wheels are rotating several times faster than the rotation corresponding to the speed of the vehicle in space, the desirability of the retarding de vice at. the exit ends of the belts is readily apparent. As pointed out above, by retarding the wheels, their speed of rotation can be brought down to that which corresponds with the speed of the vehicle in space and hence prevent all sli ping of the wheels when they encounter t e fixed track beyond the retarder.

By means of the above device, car bearings can be conditioned for operation on existing classification yards having humps, for instance, of varying lengths and slopes, so that no difficulty will be encountered in classifying cars through wide ranges in temperature. The use of this device should effect economies in classification yard operation by obviating the necessity for warming up the bearings by running the cars back and forth on fixed rails, and for supplying heated oil to the journal boxes, for heating the journal boxes, and for mechanical bumps, and for summer and winter humps in the yards.

The above rather specific description of one form of this invention has been given solely by way of example, and is not intended, in any manner whatsoever, in a limiting sense. Obviously, the invention can assume many different physical forms, and is susceptible of numerous modifications, and all such forms and modifications are intended to be covered by this application, as come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, 1 now claim 1. A method for conditioning railway cars for classification yard operation, comprising, rotating the car wheels, while the car is in motion, at a speed in excess of that corresponding to the motion of the car.

2. A method for conditioning railway cars for classification yard operation, comprising, rotating the car wheels, while the car is in motion, at a speed in excess of that corresponding to the motion of the car, and then retarding the speed of rotation of the wheels to a speed corresponding to the motion of the car.

3. In a railway car conditioner, a movable section of track insertable in a usual trackway and constructed to permit cars to move thereover in either direction, and means for driving the track section against the direction of motion of a car moving thereon.

t. In a railway car conditioner, a movable section of track comprising, endless belts of articulated links formed with matching portions having a track rail section of a form to permit car travel thereon in either direction and insertable in a usual trackway, and means for driving the belts.

In a railway car conditioner, a movable section of track constructed to permit travel J thereon in either direction and insertable in tion, means for driving the belts in a direction reverse to that of a car moving thereon, and retarder means in the gap between, and in line with, the exit ends of the track belts and the stationary rails.

7. In a car conditioner, a section of trackway raving a gap therein, movable track belts in the gap, and in line, respectively, with the stationary track rails, said track belts permitting car travel on, and relative to, said belts, means for driving the belts against the direction of travel of a car moving thereon, retarder means in the gap between, and in line with, the exit ends of the track belts and the stationary rails, and means for adjusting the retarder means.

8. In a car conditioner, a trackway having a gap therein, endless flexible belts each having one stretch in the gap, and in line with, a track rail, a single drive means for the belts, a retarder at the exit ends of the belts, and a gauntlet track permitting by-passing of the belts and the retarder.

9. In a car conditioner, two endless belts insertable in a gap in a trackway, each belt comprising, articulated links having aligned rail section portions permitting travel of a car thereon in either direction, a shaft for each link, spools on the shafts, support rails for the spools, a motor, a shaft driven by the motor, and drive discs on the driven shaft for moving the spools along the support rails to thus drive the belts whereby to permit rotating car wheels of a moving car at a speed greater than that of the speed corresponding to the speed of the car, to thus condition the car.

10. In a car conditioner, two endless belts insertable in a gap in a trackway, each belt comprising, articulate links having aligned rail section portions permitting relative car travel thereon in either direction, a shaft for each link, a spool on each end of each shaft, support rails for the spools, a motor, a drive shaft connected to the motor, four drive discs on the drive shaft, notches in the discs for receiving the spools and driving them along the support rails to thus drive the belts, and a retarder positioned between the exit ends of the belts and the rails of the trackway.

11. In a car conditioner, two endless belts insertable in a gap in a trackway, each belt comprising, articulate links having aligned rail section portions, a shaft for each link, a

spool on each end of each shaft, support rails for the spools, a motor, a drive shaft connected to the motor, four drive discs on the drive shaft, notches in the discs for receiving the spools and driving them along the support rails to thus drive the belts, a retarder positioned between the exit ends of the belts and the rails of the trackway and a gauntlet track by-passing said belts and retarder.

12. A method for conditioning railway cars for classification yard operation, comprising, rotating the car wheels, while the car is in motion, in the direction correspond ing to the direction of motion of the car and at a speed in excess of that corresponding to the motion of the car through space.

13. A method for conditioning railway cars for classification yard operation, comprising, rotating the ear wheels, while the car is in motion, in the direction corresponding to the direction of motion of the car and at a speed in excess of that corresponding to motion of the car through space, and then retarding the speed of rotation of the wheels to a speed corresponding to the motion of the car through space.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

CHARLES V. PRESCOTT. 

